It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

Then, looking out at the human nature unleashed upon the world by Mother Angelica’s Catholic Church, I’m wondering why anyone would want her idea of elevation.

Up in the town of Cornwall, Ontario, there’s a Catholic school that’s so afraid of the diversity of human nature that it has banned students from displaying the rainbow. The Administration of St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School is afraid that a rainbow might represent equal rights for homosexual Canadians, so they’ve made it policy to eradicate the rainbow from within school walls.

Presumably, they’ll have to ban prisms from science classes and leaded glass from the windows. What a way to prepare children for the larger world.

However, the power of God, as channeled through the church hierarchy all the way through the administration of the St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School, doesn’t seem to have much impact these days. Students at the school are asserting their belief in the right of all human beings to be treated with dignity and granted legal equality, whatever their sexuality. The students have formed an unofficial group that brings together students of all sexual orientations.

The student organization raised 200 dollars, which it planned to donate to a telephone support line for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School could not tolerate the idea of youth getting support not in accordance with Catholic dogma, however, so the school stole the money from the student group and gave it to a Catholic organization instead.

Mr. Wood said: “…the school stole the money from the student group and gave it to a Catholic organization instead…”

From the source: “…Campbell said students themselves suggested the funds be donated to Covenant House, a Catholic charitable organization…”

Mr. Wood said: “…Catholic school … banned students from displaying the rainbow. The Administration of St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School… made it policy to eradicate the rainbow from within school walls…”

From the source: “…the students at St. Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School baked rainbows into their cupcakes…” and
“…On another anti-homophobia day or the like, putting up a rainbow flag inside the school “certainly wouldn’t be outside the realm that is something acceptable to ask,” he added…”

and

“…The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association said it has heard of no restrictions on displaying rainbows in any Catholic boards, nor do boards have any issues with rainbows….”

Mr. Wood: “…St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School could not tolerate the idea of youth getting support not in accordance with Catholic dogma…”

From the source: “…student lobbying prompted the go-ahead for clubs that focus solely on homophobia.
At St. Joseph’s, the club is called “Open Arms,” which board spokesperson Bruce Campbell said is encouraged….”

Again, I didn’t immediately see a source provided by Mr. P.Wood, but the news story I linked above paints a rather different picture of the situation than the one shown by Mr. P. Wood. I don’t know if I trust his objectivity, his responsible reporting, or his opinions.

I love the way that the … Campbell selection actually excludes the meaning of the statement:

“Iskander said her club was instructed not to donate the $200 raised from the cupcakes to a gay-related charity. But Campbell said students themselves suggested the funds be donated to Covenant House, a Catholic charitable organization.”

Campbell is a school spokesman – directly contradicted by the students Campbell claims to speak for.

Well done! Excellent spin… except that it’s plainly transparent.

Right in front of your “…student lobbying” selection is the following statement: “Ontario’s Catholic bishops and school trustees banned the alliances and called instead for broader ‘equity’ clubs.”

Beautiful.

Oh, and those “baked rainbows into the cupcakes” were literally INSIDE the cupcakes – baked inside because they had to be hidden from school officials because of the rainbow ban!

You should put that logo on Mr P. Wood instead. I totally laugh at his comments regarding selective quotation.

Mr. P. Wood, according to the source I quoted (which he did not name in his post) did not present any facts which did not represent his biased, hate-speech tirade. I merely mentioned other facts not in evidence. I’m supposed to accept his statement that an adult spokesperson is obviously lying, while a high school student is completely factual? OK, sure.

If one statement contradicts the other, well that’s life. Certainly a disgruntled student may be putting her own spin on things.

As for your sources, two of them seem to pretty much quote the third, from Xtra, “Canada’s Gay and Lesbian News”.
Now there’s an unbiased source of information for you.
The quality of reporting on this story there includes this: “…By now you’ve probably heard that a high school in Mississauga banned rainbows because rainbows are for gays, and, as we all know, Jesus hates them thar hao-mao-sehk-shulls. Seriously, it’s right there in the Bible. I’m pretty sure it’s in the book of Larry the Cable Guy, right after the passage where Jesus rides a T rex to a NASCAR event.
Anyway, my writing thrives off the sheer, unrelenting stupidity of people with unwarranted self-importance and clearly the school board is just a never-ending fountain of it. So, I must mock them now. …”

And for your choice of “selective quoting”, you stated this: “…were literally INSIDE the cupcakes – baked inside …” but the Gay News source actually also said this: “… the students baked rainbows into the cupcakes by dying the batter in a rainbow of colours….”

That describes a batter which has different rainbow colors, and would be clearly visible, inside and out, not as you selectively stated.

Actually, in fact the one source you have provided used a stock photo that showed a cupcake with rainbow batter, just as they described, and it is clearly visible. So your refute on that does not hold any water.

Mr. P. Wood is hardly the person to speak of presenting a clear and accurate picture of any story. His writings show time and time again that he twists words and meanings to fulfill his hate-speak agenda. It is truly a sad thing to see.

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